A person’s avoidances can reveal character more than actions do
Evidence
There were several other things he avoided as well, but which I had never considered, had never seen, because what a person does always overshadows what he does not do, and what dad didn’t do was not so conspicuous, also because there was nothing at all neurotic about him. But he never went to the hairdresser’s; he always cut his own hair. He never travelled by bus. He hardly ever did his shopping at the local shop, but always at the large supermarkets outside town. All these were scenarios where he might have come into contact with people, or have been seen by them, and even though he was a teacher by profession and thus stood in front of a class every day, and occasionally summoned parents to meetings, and also spoke to his colleagues in the staffroom every day, he still consistently avoided these social situations. What was it they had in common? That he might be assimilated into a community with no more than chance as its basis? That he might be seen in a way over which he had no control? That he was vulnerable sitting on the bus, in the hairdresser’s chair, by the supermarket till? — Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Death in the Family, 1314
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the book’s broader project of reading the father through habits and small gestures; also to Ariès’ history of private life and the phenomenology of the social encounter. — connects to: Significant details either reveal character or advance plot development. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 98; Character is defined by desire and backward reasoning toward action. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 251; Character emerges from unresolved inner contradiction — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1156 (+6 more)
- QUESTION: What other avoidances might reveal hidden character structure in the father — public mourning rites, medical care, touch?
Related
Broader Connections
- Character emerges from unresolved inner contradiction
#complicates(0.60) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1156 - Character is sketched through specific physical details and social pressures
#expands(0.55) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 81